Armenian ‘Dad’s Army’ answers call to fight again
When Simon Kakoyan last fought a war to claim NagornoKarabakh for Armenia, he was in his early 20s and armed only with a hunting rifle. Now, three decades on, the battle to keep the territory in Armenian hands is being fought with hi-tech drones and laser-guided missiles.
But that has not stopped Mr Kakoyan, now 55, answering the call of duty again. He has joined thousands of other Armenians in signing up to defend Nagorno-karabakh in the latest war with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Ever since fighting broke out in the disputed enclave last weekend, the offices of the “Defenders of the Land” veterans’ association in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, have been packed with ex-servicemen.
It is not so much a Dad’s Army as a Grandad’s Army, with many recruits well into their 50s or 60s. But while some may now have grey hair and pot bellies, fighting spirit is not in short supply. “I have come here to defend the homeland, because this coming war could be as bad as the one we fought 30 years ago,” said Mr Kakoyan. “It doesn’t matter if I am not young anymore, I can still do my bit.”
Armenian media said 7,000 carloads of volunteers headed from Yerevan to Nagorno-karabakh within 24 hours of fighting breaking out last Sunday.
Each side is already claiming to have inflicted heavy losses, while accusing the other of targeting civilians.
Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said 55 civilians had been taken to hospital with 16 people killed by Armenian shelling. Armenia has reported the deaths of 104 soldiers and seven civilians, with 31 wounded.
Two French reporters from Le Monde and two Armenian journalists were also wounded by artillery fire on the town of Martuni yesterday, the Armenian government reported. Such casualties have not deterred younger Armenian volunteers, many of whom were not even born during the original war in which Armenian-dominated Nagorno-karabakh broke away from Azerbaijani control. “We are here today to go and fight, but yes, we are all scared,” said Gurgan Yereitsayan, 22. The stream of recruits of all ages reflects the sense of pride with which Armenians regard Nagorno-karabakh, where an estimated 30,000 people died during six years of combat between 1988 and 1994. Despite the volunteers’ enthusiasm, there are concerns in Armenia that oil-rich Azerbaijan – now much wealthier than it was in the early Nineties – may today wield the upper hand.
While the original war was fought by two rag-tag ex-soviet armies with roughly even weaponry, today Azerbaijan has invested in hi-tech drone missiles capable of knocking out Nagorno-karabakh’s well dug-in defensive positions.
Azerbaijan’s defence ministry has released numerous clips of aerial footage showing Armenian military vehicles exploding after being targeted by drones. Azerbaijani forces also have strategic backing from Turkey, which has been accused by Armenia of hiring 4,000 Syrian jihadist mercenaries to fight on behalf of Azerbaijan.
While no firm evidence has yet emerged of them, mercenaries have fought in Nagorno-karabakh before. During the original conflict in the Nineties, mercenaries from Afghanistan and Chechnya played an important role on the Azerbaijani side, while Russian and Ukrainian guns for hire fought on both sides.
Leyla Abdullayeva, of Azerbaijan’s foreign affairs ministry, denied the use of Syrian mercenaries, saying: “Armenia is behind these allegations.”
But the spectre of Islamic extremists coming to Nagorno-karabakh has proved a powerful recruitment tool.
“We have heard the reports about the 4,000 Syrian mercenaries coming over,” said veteran Vardan Melkonian, 47. “But that is Azerbaijan for you – they need to pay people to come to fight, and to get Turkey involved. We Armenians do not do that, we will fight for ourselves.”
A defiant Turkey has thrown its support behind its ally Azerbaijan and yesterday opposed a joint call for an immediate ceasefire issued by France, Russia and the US. “Given that the US, Russia and France have neglected this problem for nearly 30 years, it is unacceptable that they are involved in a search for a ceasefire,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his parliament. With neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan so far taking up offers of Russian-brokered peace talks, many predict that Azerbaijan will now attempt to seize the advantage, using its extra air power to regain strategic positions lost during the original conflict.
Dominating the ground, though, could embroil Azeri troops into a protracted guerrilla war that many Armenians would be only too willing to fight. In many Armenian families, grandfathers, fathers and sons are now all back on active service on the Nagorno-karabakh frontiers, and having spilt blood to claim the territory as a homeland 30 years ago, they are willing to bleed again to keep it that way. “Even my wife clapped when I told her I was volunteering to fight,” smiled Mr Melkonian.